The consortium – which was being fronted by prominent player agent Buddy Farah,and is believed to have included several locally-based businessmen – then told the Jets and FFA on Monday they were formally withdrawing their interest after the club was unable to produce audited financial accounts for the last two years.
Sources have told theHerald that some elements of the FFA board felt the best course of action this season was to pull the club's licence from absentee chairman Martin Lee and withdraw the Jets from the A-League,with a view to bringing the club back in the following season with a new owner and on a more stable footing.
Some club executives also share that position,but high-level league sources have confirmed the Jets would be saved and that their participation in the forthcoming season was not in doubt.
The clubs see the Hunter region as a football hotbed and a vital market for A-League and W-League,and the Jets as a team with enormous potential that can be realised with the right ownership.
However,the Jets are believed to be owing several million dollars in debt to creditors – including the operators of their home ground,McDonald Jones Stadium – which could complicate any licence handover.
While other investors are still believed to be in the mix,a sale is unlikely to be completed before the start of the new season on December 27 – which means Newcastle will begin the next A-League campaign mired in off-field turmoil,with no permanent coach in place and with several vacant spots in their playing squad yet to be filled.